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This one slipped through the reviewing net when it released owing to a packed holiday season schedule, but we simply had to go back and take a look at it! John teams up with Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson to take a look at the new Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remasters, stacked up against the Dreamcast and PS2 versions respectively. These are excellent remasters, well worth a look.

00:00 Soul Reaver 1 - PlayStation 5 vs Dreamcast
42:58 Soul Reaver 2 - PlayStation 5 vs PlayStation 2

 

[simpatico]

Remember buying this game on launch on Dreamcast and never being able to get into it. I know it's cherished by a bunch of people and I still like the aesthetics, but I can't buy it at full price because of the experience I had. Not saying it's bad, I barely remember it. I just couldn't get anywhere with it.

 

[Killer8]

It seems like a really faithful remaster much like their Tomb Raider work. I'm waiting for a physical copy though. No more buying these only to see a physical get announced 3 months later.

 

[winjer]

One hour and 20 minutes....

 

[keefged4]

So I've recently finished both of these remasters, IMO Soul Reaver 1 still holds up and is fantastic, the atmosphere is amazing. But 2, I never could get into 2 when I was younger but pushed through and finished it this time, and honestly its so far from the first in terms of gameplay, atmosphere and music that it may aswell have been a totally different game. It's massively disappointing. The story is good though throughout. It feels like SR2 was abandoned half way through development

 

[mansoor1980]

locked portals look better in the dreamcast version of SR1

 

[sncvsrtoip]

locked portals look better in the dreamcast version of SR1

Remaster for such an old game is just waste of time, should be proper remake

 

[Fake]

Looks a decent remaster. A.I upscaler, when in the right hands, do really wonders.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Remaster for such an old game is just waste of time, should be proper remake

, no way. You are focusing on the only detail that is not miles ahead of the previous version (while running at 120 Hz too).

There was no way to buy and play a version of these two games on console now and I prefer this, they did a great job with this btw, rather than a full remake that does not get the lore or the game’s point to begin with.

 

[sncvsrtoip]

, no way. You are focusing on the only detail that is not miles ahead of the previous version (while running at 120 Hz too).

There was no way to buy and play a version of these two games on console now and I prefer this, they did a great job with this btw, rather than a full remake that does not get the lore or the game’s point to begin with.

Remaster is lazy as f

 

[SomeGit]

, no way. You are focusing on the only detail that is not miles ahead of the previous version (while running at 120 Hz too).

There was no way to buy and play a version of these two games on console now and I prefer this, they did a great job with this btw, rather than a full remake that does not get the lore or the game’s point to begin with.

That effect is also Dreamcast specific, the OG PS1 and PC versions had that hexagon too. It’s sad they didn’t add it but it’s not a big issue, there are others, the spiral on the UI isn’t in the correct aspect ratio, but this collection is far and away the best way to play the games. It was totally worth it as the PC versions were to outdated and emulation wasn’t perfect.

And yeah I agree better to have the OG than some lame remake.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Remaster is lazy as f

Almost as lazy as not finishing a s

 

[Panajev2001a]

That effect is also Dreamcast specific, the OG PS1 and PC versions had that hexagon too. It’s sad they didn’t add it but it’s not a big issue,

Good point, but I would say that the collection is meant to take the PS1 as base version and to remain faithful to it, not the Dreamcast one.

there are others, the spiral on the UI isn’t in the correct aspect ratio, but this collection is far and away the best way to play the games. It was totally worth it as the PC versions were to outdated and emulation wasn’t perfect.

And yeah I agree better to have the OG than some lame remake.

Let’s see if they do anything to patch / polish it any further.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

locked portals look better in the dreamcast version of SR1

IMO this needs to be patched. It looks like total ass.

 

[Skifi28]

Remaster is lazy as f

If it's a remaster it's lazy. If it's a remake it's too much work that should have been used for a new game. You can never please everyone, but I always thought it's good to bring old games to modern devices with some modern quality of life features and give people more options to play other than emulation or GOG.

 

[Astray]

Remaster for such an old game is just waste of time, should be proper remake

This is to get easy money and get an estimate of how big the fanbase is for the franchise, and attempt to get them on board.

Amazing that Square managed to go 13 years without even doing this. But one shouldn't be shocked at what the worst publisher's practices are at this point.

 

[Synless]

This is to get easy money and get an estimate of how big the fanbase is for the franchise, and attempt to get them on board.

Amazing that Square managed to go 13 years without even doing this. But one shouldn't be shocked at what the worst publisher's practices are at this point.

I don’t think it’s a good estimate at all when it looks like that.

I love that series and no way am I buying that cheap as fuck remaster. They didn’t do enough for me to pay, I’ll stick with the originals.

 

[DryvBy]

This is to get easy money and get an estimate of how big the fanbase is for the franchise, and attempt to get them on board.

Amazing that Square managed to go 13 years without even doing this. But one shouldn't be shocked at what the worst publisher's practices are at this point.

My hold up is this is over $20 and digital only

 

[Codiox]

, no way. You are focusing on the only detail that is not miles ahead of the previous version (while running at 120 Hz too).

There was no way to buy and play a version of these two games on console now and I prefer this, they did a great job with this btw, rather than a full remake that does not get the lore or the game’s point to begin with.

If you cant buy it anymore, then just emulate it? every $50 china handheld can play this game fine.

Even the publisher is not arround since 2009 anymore

 

[Spukc]

looks like sheit
free give away epic games slot at best.

spend cash on soylent hill 2 instead kids

 

[Panajev2001a]

If you cant buy it anymore, then just emulate it? every $50 china handheld can play this game fine.

Even the publisher is not arround since 2009 anymore

Bad take after bad take. You can buy it, in this fine collection. Or you can try to justify other… lifestyles .

 

[Fake]

locked portals look better in the dreamcast version of SR1

Looks like shit on PS5. Kinda embarrassing.

 

[RagnarokIV]

“durr it no different it look same as old grafik lazy cheap remastuh”

Absolute fucking retards.

 

[SomeGit]

“durr it no different it look same as old grafik lazy cheap remastuh”

Absolute fucking retards.

B-but the hexagon

 

[adamsapple]

“durr it no different it look same as old grafik lazy cheap remastuh”

Absolute fucking retards

 

[fastest finger]

One hour and 20 minutes....

I lasted about 3 minutes. Those 2 together are so fucking annoying.

 

[kevboard]

Almost as lazy as not finishing a s

*an s

 

[Panajev2001a]

*an s

No grammar nazi , it was correct the first time as I just just stopped myself off mid s

 

[Panajev2001a]

“durr it no different it look same as old grafik lazy cheap remastuh”

Absolute fucking retards.

90 FPS with TDP set to 4 Watts (works at 90 FOS even with 3 Watts with very rare drops to 86-87 FPS… at that point just set the refresh rate limit to something between 60 Hz and 85 Hz and you are golden lol) on Steam Deck OLED . Yup, double dipped.

 

[kevboard]

No grammar nazi , it was correct the first time as I just just stopped myself off mid s

then it should be written "mid s..." or "mid s–" to notate an interrupted sentence.

without any punctuation it just reads like the letter s

 

[diffusionx]

“durr it no different it look same as old grafik lazy cheap remastuh”

Absolute fucking retards.

top: soul
bottom: soulless

 

[Panajev2001a]

then it should be written "mid s..." or "mid s–" to notate an interrupted sentence.

without any punctuation it just reads like the letter s

O

 

[Skifi28]

top: soul
bottom: soulless

At least we finally know how many pixels a soul has since you can count them.

 

[64bitmodels]

top: soul
bottom: soulless

its the exact same just remade for 21st century standards.

 

[adamsapple]

top: soul
bottom: soulless

top: soul reaver
bottom: reaver of souls

 

[marquimvfs]

Why compare SR2 with PS2 version instead of the pc version? Given they are comparing the first one with the Dreamcast instead of PS1.

 

[tylrdiablos]

locked portals look better in the dreamcast version of SR1

1: I think this is one of those situations where the hardware limitations at the time of development actually did the game some favours.
2: Holy fuck that's a lot of ads. Imagine watching a 1 hr 20 min movie and being forced to sit through 15 fucking ads. (This is more of a YouTube complaint than a Digital Foundry complaint but I'll never uninstall AdBlock & SponsorBlock and this is why.)

 

[Soodanim]

then it should be written "mid s..." or "mid s–" to notate an interrupted sentence.

without any punctuation it just reads like the letter s

How does the s look unfinished? That doesn't make sense. Plus you have the quote for all the context you need. His post was a direct format copy of the quote, used solely to mock the other poster.

 

[Astray]

I don’t think it’s a good estimate at all when it looks like that.

I love that series and no way am I buying that cheap as fuck remaster. They didn’t do enough for me to pay, I’ll stick with the originals.

So they won't count you.

My hold up is this is over $20 and digital only

I personally bought it day 1 because this is a remaster I've been wanting for a long while now.

 

[Xaeroxcore666]

i´d probably get this remaster for my PS5, it looks great but they should have taken the DC version as base, not the OG PS1. By the way, hope someday we finally get Soul Reaver 2 on Dreamcast...I can´t believe we got first GTA 3...